Cross My Heart
by eL3menTa1
Summary: When Zeno goes on an innocent mission to retrieve something left behind and doesn't return, how will his brother cope with the loss? DISCLAIMER: Most of the ideas and concepts for this story was suggested to me by a friend. I am only putting them in writing. Also, I haven't made it too far into the anime or manga yet, so don't be TOO hard on me if it isn't up to par.
1. Part 1: Lost

I closed my eyes as the corner of my lips curled up into a gentle smile. There was a breeze just as gentle as it blew past my silver hair and caressed my cheek. I leaned back against the tree trunk. It was rough and it scraped against my back, but it was all perfect nevertheless. I opened my eyes just as a cherry blossom broke free from it's place of birth to fall gracefully and place a kiss on my forehead. It was as soft and light as a flower. A soft giggle manifested beside me and I looked in it's direction as I zoned back into the real world. A little boy with big, beautiful eyes and yellow hair was smiling at me. The biggest smile you could ever imagine on a seven-year-old's lips.

My younger brother, Zatch Bell. I felt his grip on my hand and I gave it a small squeeze. He followed my example and used his other hand to adjust the hand-crafted flower crown on his head.

 **-You're too precious for this world-**

I watched contently as he pulled a small pocky box with sticks poked into it's sides from his pocket. "Vulcan" as he called it. He began to mess with the sticks and bounce it around as if it were a real, factory made toy. He seemed so peaceful how carefree he was and how the whole world lit up around him. And he was all mine.

Soon, the sun began to set on the horizon. I was beginning to get drowsy and I could feel the energy leave my brother as his eyelids fluttered closed. With the passionate touch of the breeze and the melodic songs of the birds as they prepared for sleep, I also let my consciousness slip away into the dying light.

"Oh no!" Zatch yelled worriedly as he dug in his little pockets. "I left Vulcan at the tree!" I shook my head a bit as I observed his pouting. Anyone with a heart wouldn't dare leave that face to worry about any little thing whether it be an untied shoe, or a lost pocky box. "Big brother will get it for you." I said as calmly as I could. As he smiled at me, I felt the atmosphere of the house brighten up again. "I'll bring you yellowtail on my way back too."

 **-I cross my heart-**

As I walked down the forest path, I saw a figure; a shadow standing a few yards away from the road. It was nothing unusual as people strolled down those parts often since there was a small park not too far from the cherry blossom tree, but when I saw him, my skin began to crawl. Something seemed very off about it. Perhaps it was the way it stayed put without moving at all like the strollers do. It could have just been the sudden gust of wind that tickled my flesh. Either way, I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't going the way it should have.

I finally reached the tree and sure enough, there was Vulcan. His little chopstick arms and legs were spread apart on the grass, his mouth agape. Wanting to get back to Zatch quicky, I picked it up and set it in my pocket. Before me, laid on the grass was my shadow. Surely, I knew it was my own, yet there it was again-that uneasy feeling. When I turned around to be sure I wasn't followed, that shadow consumed me. There was nothing but darkness in it's purest form.

 **-I'm sorry-**


	2. Part 2: Found

PART: 2 {Zatch Bell}

I've never felt depressed before. Not like this at least. I flattened my hands on the floor and laid on my stomach, resting my chin on their backs. I sent Zeno out to get Vulcan three hours earlier. It takes fifteen minutes to get to the tree and maybe thirty more to catch yellowtail and get back. I was beginning to get worried as my windows flew open, letting a strong wind blow throw my curtains and smack me in the face. I didn't want to believe that something awful might have happened, so I waited.

More hours past. Soon, I began to count the days. Ten at least since I let him go. I clenched my fists and marched out, letting the free leaves and dead flowers to hurdle toward me in the harsh wind. Finally, I arrived at the path. I stood still before it and squinted as I looked past all of the trees. I saw the cherry blossom tree, but I couldn't see anyone there. My heart began to drop into a pool of its own emotion, but I stopped it and continued on. "He'll be there, probably caught in something," I said to myself as I approached the tree. "Everything will be just fine!"

Finally, I stood at the tree's base. I stared at the grass with regret as I spotted a darkened square shape. That's where I left Vulcan, I was sure, but where was it? I looked all around, but there was no sign of Zeno or Vulcan. No footprints, no sounds, nothing.

There was a small park not too far from the blossom tree. Three younger children were playing there, so I marched over in hopes of gaining some information as to where Zeno had run off to. "I'm looking for my brother," I said to one of the children. They all stopped to look at me as I spoke."He looks just like me, but he has silver hair and purple eyes." I went on with his description, pointing to my hair and eyes as indicated. All of it was for naught, however. It seemed like none of them knew who I was talking about. In defeat, I lowered my head and dragged my feet as I walked home.

It seemed much colder than it did before, I thought once I walked inside. I rubbed my cold arms as the built up emotion finally showed up in the form of cold tears. As they streamed down my cheeks, I continued to think positively. "I'll go to school tomorrow and Zeno will be in his normal seat, I just know it!" I continued to say to myself. But, no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did or said, the flow of sadness, worry, and fear pressed on into a salty puddle at my feet. Slowly, but surely, I could feel the world around me getting dimmer. I could no longer see the sun peering out through the clouds. Instead, it was just the wan, grey sky and the cold, angry wind. Not like it was before.

I just wanted to get the day over with so I could get up for school and test my theory, so I went ahead and crawled up to my bed. Once I was settled, I let the sound of my own cries lull me to sleep.

 **-I'm sorry-**

Laughter. Lots of it. It was Zeno's voice. I smiled and laughed with my brother when I finally became aware, but when I really took the time to look around, I saw it. This was before he had gone to search for Vulcan. We were just having fun. We were talking and laughing like we always did. I didn't notice it before, but as I looked carefully at Zeno's eyes, I could see that there was something off about them. He wasn't smiling but smirking. And by the tiny movement of his eyes, as they shifted to the left, I could see that it wasn't me that he was looking at. I turned around to see what it was, but there was nothing there. Just an empty wall with a few scratch marks and stray thumb tacks. I turned back to look at Zeno, this time, he was quite obviously looking at me. "Looking for something?" He asked calmly. His voice was uncomfortably relaxed and it made me squirm where I sat.

"I left Vulcan at the tree," I said with an unconscious pout. He laughed and offered to go get it for me. This was painfully familiar. I opened my mouth to reject his offer or even make my own suggestion to go on the trip with him, but when I tried to speak, no sound emerged from my throat. I couldn't say a word, no matter how hard or how loudly I tried to say "No". It was only when I gave into his offer and let him leave the house that my voice was returned to me. As I had feared, I had no choice in the matter. He was gone and I let him go...

 **-I'll find him for you. I cross my heart-**

As he walked out, I looked over my shoulder once more and sighed. Still nothing. I had no idea what it was he was looking at, but it frightened me. It wasn't normal to smirk at an empty wall. Especially not like that; not like there was someone or something there. As I was beginning to question it, the gust of wind returned and came to slap me across the face just as it did the first time. I closed my eyes and made my way to the window to close it, but when I took my first step, I fell and hit my head. When I opened my eyes again, I was in bed. The window was closed, and the sun had already set. "A dream.," I whispered in a bit of relief. I glanced at the clock over the door. 3:15 A.M. I sighed and rested my head back on my pillow. "I'll find him. I know I will."

On my way to school, I kept a smile on my face. I swapped out the fear and worry for confidence and a bit of excitement. I even began to plan the conversation I would have with him once I saw him. "Why did you take so long? Did you fall in the river again?" I said out loud. I giggled at the thought and continued to skip along. When I stood in front of the school building, all of that confidence was taken from me; like snatching a pacifier out of the mouth of an infant. I found myself getting smaller and smaller as I continued to stare at the school house. Because what if he wasn't there? What would I do then without him? I contained the tears that beat on my eyes and walked inside. I weaved past all of the other mamodo and sat in my usual seat. Zeno usually sat right beside me, so I kept my eyes glued to his chair and waited.

I waited and waited. Class went on, and Zeno never came to fill the empty seat next to me. Slowly, that small hole in my heart began to grow until I feared that there wouldn't be much left of it.

"Zatch?" The woman called. When I returned to the present and looked up at the class, I quickly learned that everyone was staring at me. How long had I been caught up with my thoughts? "Yes, ma'am?" I replied, trying to keep hidden the lump in my throat. I couldn't exactly hear what she had to say, but as I put stray words together, it sounded like I was going to be the prince role in the school play. I had no problem with that, but it was only when she had finished giving out roles and failed to acknowledge Zeno's absence did I start to feel rather uneasy.

When the bell finally rang, I lowered my head once again and started my painful, lonely walk home. At the halfway mark, I began to hear the faint sound of footsteps coming from behind me. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I realized that Zeno and I were the only mamodo that came this way after school. I turned my head a bit to check, but there was nothing there, so I continued my walk. Once again, I heard the footsteps at a louder volume. I looked over my shoulder again. There still was nothing. I mumbled under my breath and began to quicken my pace. For the third time, I heard the sound of shoes crushing the dry dirt and I turned my whole body completely to see what was making the noise.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw Zeno before me. He was paler than usual, of course, but it was definitely him. Around his neck was a funny necklace. It was ugly looking and looked like he made it out of some thick, old rope. It was cut off at the end. As some of the rope hung over his chest, I could tell by the jagged ends that it extended further than it did. When I looked back up at his face, he smiled peacefully at me. I wanted to be excited. I found my brother, after all, but for whatever reason, I didn't feel very good about finding him. Pushing my thoughts aside, I smiled back at him and watched as he lifted his white little hands. In one hand he held Vulcan, not a single scratch on him, and in the other, he held a yellowtail fish.

I took them in amazement and began scanning the items for clues of any sort. When I looked up, there it was again; that look. He wasn't looking at me but to the right of me. I shifted my eyes, but it was empty, just like it was in my dream. Nothing but cold, damp air. And, just as before, when I returned my eyes to him, he looked at me like nothing at all had happened.

 **-Looking for something?-**

I set the past behind me and let everything go. I hugged him and cried on his shoulder. I told him how afraid I was, and how lonely I felt. He comforted me just like a big brother should. After everything, we began to talk and laugh again like normal as we walked back home.


	3. Part 3: The Little Prince

PART: 3 {Zatch Bell}

As the days went by, I started to see things that completely caught my off guard. It was as if, Zeno didn't even exist. As we walked by people, they didn't seem to pay any mind to Zeno's presence. "Hi, Zatch!" I'd always hear. I would kindly wave back before wondering if they were just being rude, or if something was very wrong.

Finally, the day came for the school play,'The Little Price'. I hopped into my outfit and walked backstage, waiting for the production to begin. As I peered out into the audience, I spotted my parents. I could see my mother and father whispering to each other as my mother held up a small video camera. I giggled and waved a bit. My mother did the same with that kind, beautiful smile of hers. I poked my head back in and took a deep breath. The play was about to begin.

After the final scene, Zeno and I were the only one's left on stage. The lights dimmed into blackness and the audience began to applaud our performance. As the lights came back on, I lifted my arms above my head and gripped Zeno's hand before taking a long bow. When I lifted my head, I could see my mother jumping around. It was very curious since my parents weren't the type to get so excited at events like that. When I looked harder, I could see that she wasn't at all jumping for joy. Her face lost it's color and she looked afraid. I got a small glimpse of my father trying to calm her down, before the lights went out for the last time.

 **-And he lived happily ever after-**

Not too long after, both of my parents fell very ill. The play of the little prince would be the last event they would ever see, and I tried desperately to prepare myself. Of course, nobody could possibly be prepared for the death of their parents. On that day, not only did my parents leave my side, but Zeno disappeared. I never saw him again.

{Zeno Bell}

I tugged lightly on my rather stylish noose and growled at the darkness. Right before me; past the thin line of the mind realm, was Yuno. That witch was put in charge of my little brother, which I wouldn't have any problem with if she actually treated him how he deserved. Instead, she abused him. Threatened his life, beat him, told him that he was worthless. I clenched my fists until I could feel my own nails dig into my flesh. I concentrated on Zatch for a few moments before I decided that I was to rid her from the mamodo world. I wanted to be sure that he wouldn't be able to see what I was about to do. I sighed in relief as the terrain loaded and I was able to see him in his bedroom. So precious, yet the one woman they could find to take him into custody found so many ways to make him feel like trash.

 **-No more. I swear it-**

He couldn't see it, but as he cried in his little bedroom, our mother was there trying to comfort him. She caressed his head and sang, but he couldn't see her. He couldn't feel her. He just kept on crying. I sighed and zoomed back in on my target. She was watching the television. I looked past the screen and smirked as an idea took it's place in my conscience. I lifted my hand and watched as the channel switched to pure static. The old witch pressed her hands to her ears and grabbed the remote in an attempt to low down the volume.

After a minute or two, I slipped on the video clip of 'The Little Prince' onto the screen and then waited.

–There Zatch was, without a care in the world. He looked handsome with his little outfit on and I just couldn't help smiling at that. The lights slowly dimmed and everyone began to applaud. I had to rest the video camera down so I could clap without affecting the sound on the video. When the lights came back on, I grabbed the camera again and resumed the recording. I smiled as I looked over the video camera to wave at my little boy, but when I glanced at the small screen on the camera, I saw not one, but two little boys on the stage. I had no doubt, one of them was mine, but the other one made me jump–

That was my cue. I jumped through the darkness, using the television screen as my guided portal and pounced on the woman. Before she could so much as scream, I knocked her off the chair and rung my hands tightly around her neck before pushing my thumbs into her windpipe. Not too long after, I felt the crack I was looking for and watched as her breath slowly left her. Not too long after, she went completely limp. I let her go and stepped back to admire my work. There was a bright red ring around her neck and a fearful facial expression even in death. Right at that moment, I swore that I would destroy anyone that ever hurt my little brother. Nobody would ever mistreat him while I was watching over him. I crossed my heart.

–It looked like the second boy had a mask on. It was horrid and frightening. Around his neck was a noose, cut off at the end. "Who is that? What's going on?" I yelled at my husband. He only gently touched my arm and tried to calm me down. I looked over the camera once more. There was NOTHING there! I didn't want to, but once more I looked at the camera screen. Right over him was the body of a woman as she hung and swayed. I gulped and observed the little boy. He was looking directly at me and it frightened me so terribly that I nearly fell over the ledge as the lights went out for the last time–


End file.
